A new report casts doubt on the viability of America's biggest carmaker, General Motors, despite costly government attempts to rescue the domestic automobile industry.
尽管美国政府试图斥巨资挽救国内汽车制造业，但一份新的报告使人们对美国最大的汽车制造商--通用汽车公司能否继续生存下去产生了怀疑。
Since late last year, the federal government has lent tens of billions of dollars to carmakers in return for promises of an aggressive effort to trim costs, restructure operations, and lay the foundation for an eventual return to profitability. But now those plans appear to be in peril.
从去年底开始，美国联邦政府已经向汽车制造公司发放了数百亿美元的贷款，这些公司向政府承诺，将大力削减成本支出，进行经营改组，并为最终恢复盈利打下基础。但是现在，这些计划似乎都岌岌可危。
Auditors for General Motors say they have "substantial doubt" the corporation can continue operations, citing massive losses and insufficient cash flows among a long list of concerns.
对通用汽车公司财物状况进行审计的人员说，他们对通用能够继续营业“持有很大的怀疑”，这是因为该公司出现巨额亏损、流动资金不足和其它众多令人担忧的问题。
"I think everybody knows this company, as well as Chrysler, are on the brink of disaster," said John McElroy, auto industry analyst. "It may well be that this means GM has taken a big step towards Chapter 11."
汽车业分析人士麦克尔罗伊说：“我认为，人人都知道，通用和克莱斯勒已经处在灾难的边缘，也可以说通用已经离申报破产又近了一大步。”
Part of the U.S. bankruptcy code, Chapter 11 allows a failing business to continue operations while restructuring and negotiating with lenders.
美国破产法的第十一章允许经营不善的企业在进行改组并同借款人进行协商的同时继续营业。
General Motors lost more than $30 billion last year, and a total of more than $80 billion over the last three years. GM has received $13 billion in emergency federal loans in recent months and hopes to obtain billions more. It has until the end of the month to secure concessions from debtors as well as the United Autoworkers Union in order to be eligible for further government aid. Last month, the company announced a plan to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs and close several factories. GM says failure to achieve significant cost savings would force it into bankruptcy.
通用公司去年亏损了300多亿美元，在过去三年共亏损超过800亿美元。最近一个月中，美国联邦政府为通用公司提供了130亿美元的紧急贷款，并可能会再提供数十亿美元救助。为了获得政府的进一步救助，通用公司必须在这个月底前确保同其债权人以及美国汽车业工人联合会达成让步协议。上个月，通用公司宣布，计划裁员数万人并关闭多家工厂。通用表示，若无法大幅削减成本将不得不宣告破产。
Automobile industry officials say they worry that filing for bankruptcy would drive away customers. Millions of American jobs are tied directly or indirectly to the car industry.
汽车业官员说，他们担心，汽车公司申报破产会使消费者不愿购买其产品。此外，美国有数百万人的工作同汽车业有直接或间接的关系。
But some question whether GM can survive no matter what it does, given the current economic climate.
但是，也有一些人认为，在目前的经济形势下，无论通用公司采取什么措施都可能无法存活下去。
"We have to see some sort of [economic] stabilization," said Keith Crain, who publishes Automotive News trade magazine. "Once that happens, then I think companies like GM and Chrysler can get their costs in line. But as long as there continues to be a free fall, GM is at grave risk."
美国的汽车新闻杂志的出版人克雷恩说：“我们必须首先看到经济的稳定，然后通用和克莱斯勒这样的公司才能理清它们的成本问题。但是只要经济情况继续直线下降，通用公司就面临严重风险。”
If automakers are hoping for a quick economic rebound to boost their chances of survival, the latest numbers do not look promising. More than 600,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total number of people on the jobless rolls to 6.5 million, more than double the number that existed a year ago.
如果汽车制造企业希望靠经济迅速反弹来增加自己生存的希望，那么最近出台的一些数据表明，它们的希望不太可能实现。上周，美国申请失业救济的人超过60万，这使失业人口总数达到650万，是一年前的一倍多。
"These are the worst set of numbers since the fall of 1982. They will get better, probably by the end of this year, but in the meantime they are going to get a lot worse," said Nariman Behravesh, Global Insight chief economist.
美国环球通视公司的首席经济学家贝拉韦什说：“这是1982年秋天以来最糟糕的一组数据。情况可能在今年底前会好转，但是在那之前会变得更糟。”
The deep economic recession is believed to have been caused, in part, by a severe credit crunch precipitated by a rash of home foreclosures in the United States. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that more than 10 percent of American mortgage holders were either late in payments or in foreclosure at the end of last year.
人们认为，造成目前严重经济衰退的部分原因是美国大量房屋丧失赎回权后造成的严重信贷紧缩。美国抵押贷款银行家协会的报告说，在去年年底，超过10%的美国按揭户已经迟交按揭费或丧失了住房赎回权。
Separately, U.S. factory orders as well as retail sales fell last month.
另外，美国上个月的工厂订单量和零售业销售额都有所下降。 |